Dangers of Love and War
by 0-Kelly-0
Summary: Temari and Shikamaru are fighting against odds to be together. Will love blossom? Or burn? Please R&R!
1. Return to the Sand

Chapter 1

"Temari," a demanding voice called. "Temari, get up!"

Well, that was Gaara for you. There was never a please, or a choice, just an order. It's not his fault that he never learned any different, but living pretty much in solitary confinement, with everyone within a fifty mile radius scared of his mere existence, seemed to have taken a toll on his manners.

Temari groaned,and started to lift herself into a sitting position from the hard ground that she had slept on the night before. 'Where am I?' She thought, looking around at the dense forest surrounding her. 'Defiantly not the desert,' She sat there for a minute remembering her village. The miles upon miles of sand, the scorching days, and icicle nights.

Then it all came back in a jolt. 'Gaara, Kankuro and I were running. The attack to the leaf had failed. A retreat had been ordered, and we were moving back to the Wind Country.'

Gaara walked over to her and squatted beside her. "Get up," he ordered. "We need to keep moving."

She pushed herself up to a standing position. Gaara scared her, even though she knew he meant well. Well...at least she thought he ment well. But it's hard to not be afraid of someone who kills just when he gets bored.

Temari consciously pushed the thought away, and followed her two brothers who were hoping through the trees. The three were less then a day from the village, but the journey seemed endless.

Temari's photographic memory kept replaying the past month's events in her mind. She thought about all of the sand ninja who were killed in the attack, and all of the leaf ninja who had fallen at the hand of Orochimaru.

'We had aided in that killing, my brothers and I.' She thought sadly. 'Not by choice, no, it had been a direct order from the Kazekage. Our father. For some reason, he thought that the sand was better then the leaf. Maybe so, but the reality of it is that the leaf had been an ally that was irreplaceable. Our village's honor had been disgraced by the foolish move of aiding the sound nins in their attack.'

She tried once more to push away the thoughts of dishonor, and failure from her mind. Temari focused instead on the task at hand. Returning safely to the Wind Country.

The tiring journey was coming to a close. The village was within site, and the trees were becoming more and more scarce. A sure sign that the water within the ground was becoming sparse. Eventually the moisture in the ground disappeared completely, and the dirt turned to sand, it was then thatTemari knewthey were home.

Temari looked around as they entered the Village Hidden in the Sand. The buildings were built completely out of sand, (is there any other kind?) and streets were practically deserted. But then again they always were at this time of the day. This was the time that the sun was highest in the sky, heating the village to scorching temperatures. But the few people wandering the streets were dressed in desert attire.

"The Kazekage wishes to see you," Baki, said as he Approached the returning genin.

"I'm sure daddy dearest has planed a big welcome home party for his little pawns," Temari said in an irritated voice. The Kazekage, in Temari's opinion, was always playing each side of the board like a game of chess. Of course, the ultimate objective of the game is to annihilate the opposition at all costs. Which of course never ends up well for the pieces in the game that are replaceable, such as pawns.

"You will not talk about your Kazekage that way," the team's sensei, snapped at her.

Deciding that this was not a good time to argue with Baki, Temari bowed her head in apology, and they headed to meet with their father.

The Kazekage was in the grand council room, where he stood next to a window that overlooked the entire village. His back was turned to them as they were lead into the room.

He spoke to them without turning. "The honor of the village has been tainted. Many lives have been lost, and the village may have lost a powerful partner of war."

'Well duh! Wasn't I just thinking that!' Temari's mind lashed out at her father, but her mouth remained silent, not wishing to further upset him.

"There may indeed be a way to regain the leaf's trust," the Kazekage said, now pacing the length of the room.

The three siblings remained silent. Waiting to hear their father's plan to win back the leaf.

"You three are to return to the village hidden in the leaves," he started out, apparently very enthused by this. "And assist them when the sound strikes them again. Their troops were weakened greatly by the past attack, and they will need help defending their village."

'You have got to be kidding me,' Temari thought dimly.

"Kazekage," Gaara started out slowly. "I don't really think….." His voice trailed off.

Kankuro decided to pick it back up for him. "Man that really bites. We're not gonna go help out some weak nins defend themselves against Orochimaru." He crossed his arms across his chest. "They don't deserve our help."

Their father glared at them. "This is not an optional task. It is an order!" His voice boomed throughout the council room. "You will leave in two weeks for the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and offer assistance when the sound attacks them again."

This was obviously the end of the conversation. The three nins bowed their heads, a sign of respect, and left the room.

"Nice going puppet boy," Temari said directing her comments toward Kankuro. "You have officially lost us any chance of getting out of this!"

"Bastard," murmured Kankuro.


	2. The Beautiful Girl

Chapter 2

The trip back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves was fairly uneventful. Kankuro stepped in a patch of quicksand, and it gave Temari a good laugh to watch him slowly getting shorter as he cursed at her.

The three stayed outside the village, observing from a far. They all knew that if they were to step foot into the village, that they would no longer have a foot to step with. A week passed, and Temari was getting increasingly irritated.

"I want to go back to the village!" Temari exclaimed angrily.

"We can't go back to the village," Gaara said in a matter-a-fact voice. "We have to stay here until we are needed."

This just caused Temari to be angrier. But her fear of Gaara overpowered her anger. So she decided that she would go bathe in the nearby pond to cool off. Sleeping a tree-yes that's right a tree-had not really helped her anger problems, or her cleanliness for that matter. So she grabbed her bag and headed for the pond.

"Gosh, thinks he knows everything," Shikamaru murmured kicking a pebble as he walked along the path. He started in perfect imitation of his father, "now that you're a Chunin, you shouldn't be as lazy. You need take some responsibility, and help your mother more around the house."

"Ha, I'm never gonna get sucked into that whole marriage thing. Women are so bossy, hard headed…." Shikamaru's voice trailed off as he approached the pond.

About fifty yards in front of him was a girl. A beautiful girl. She had her back facing him, and she obviously didn't know that he was there. She looked very familiar but he just couldn't quite put his finger on where he'd seen her before.

She was pulling a few rubber bands out of her hair that had been holding several oddly placed ponytails. Her sandy blond hair fell to her shoulders. Shikamaru watched the girl in amazement. And to his delight-or horror, he couldn't quite decide-the girl started taking off her clothes.

Shikamaru was frozen, he knew that it was horrible to spy on a girl while she was bathing, but he had never seen a naked girl before. It was all he could do to just stand half hidden by a tree watching the girl. Where had he seen her before?

"Damn it," Temari said angrily at the air as she dipped her head backward into the water. "I want to go home. This is so pointless. Why did the Kazekage have to send us?"

Temari told herself that she had to calm down. She took a deep breath in, and exhaled. Her muscles relaxed, and she became aware that someone was watching her.

In the Wind Country, the ninjas were taught amazing survival techniques. Some of these techniques existed for the soul purpose of tracking an enemy, and being able to pin-point their exact location. This was one of Temari's specialties. She had an excellent sense of smell, and very acute hearing.

'Oh shit,' she thought, 'I'm not supposed to be seen here!'

Temari performed some quick hand signs, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Wait, no!" Shikamaru yelled after her, but he knew it was too late. She was gone.

He approached the pond where she had been, and he noticed something placed at the base of a tree. As he drew near it, he realized it was a bag. The girl had left her bag.

Shikamaru picked up the brownsack, and slung it over his shoulder to take back to the village with him.'Who wasthat girl?' Heclosed his eyes, running through pictures of peopleheknew. He couldn't place her with any of them. 'She was so beautiful. I wish I knew her...' His thoughts trailed off as heheaded back into the village.


	3. The Fight Begins

Chapter 3

'What a little perv,' she thought angrily when she reappeared at camp. 'Spying on me while I was bathing! I have never been so insulted before in my life!'

Then it struck her what she had forgotten at the pond. Her bag. "Ah man! Can this really get any worse!" She yelled half to herself, and half to the boy who had been spying on her.

Grumbling angrily, Temari dressed, and waited for her brothers to return with dinner. She decided it was best not to tell them what had happened at the pond.

Another week pasted without incident, and Naruto returned with Jiraiya and Tsunade, the fifth Hokage. Temari was growing more and more restless.

But eventually, their mission came. Word reached them that Uchiha Sasuke had left the village with four sound nins in pursuit of Orochimaru. The village assigned the mission of retrieving the Uchiha to a group of rookies, one Chuunin, Nara Shikamaru, and four Genin, Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba, and Akimichi Choji. All of whom were acquainted with Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro, thanks to the Chuunin Exam.

"This is gonna be good," Kankuro said rubbing his hands together in relish. "I haven't seen any action since we attacked the leaf."

Gaara and Temari remained silent as they jumped through the shadows, about a half a mile behind the team in search of Sasuke. Well, Gaara was always very quiet, but Temari felt bad about the attack on the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Temari hated war. Fighting, yea, that was fun, but war. No. Not fun. Countless people died in wars. She always thought there were easier ways to work out problems between countries then fighting. But it wasn't her choice to make. She was just happy that they might be able to make it up to the leaf by helping them against Orochimaru.

"Alright," Gaara said. "We need to split up. Temari, keep track of the leader, Kankuro, watch the kid with the dog on his head. I'll take Naruto."

"What about the other two?" Temari wanted to know.

"We can't be everywhere at once Temari." Gaara pointed out. "The Hyuga is strong, he can take care of himself, and the other one…well, Shikamaru would be stupid to send him off to fight, so I'm not worrying about it."

Temari nodded her head, and the three siblings divided, each following their target.

As Temari followed Shikamaru, the group of ninjas slowly got smaller and smaller. Choji was the first to be left behind to fight. (Despite what Gaara had predicted.) The next to go was Neji, then Kiba. All that remained now was Naruto and Shikamaru.

The two eventually ran into the last of the sound's four, Tayuya. This time, it was Shikamaru who was left behind to fight.

Temari hung behind, about a quarter mile away from where the fight between the leaf and the sound was taking place. She wanted to observe the Sound nin in action before jumping into a fight. She also was able to watch Shikamaru's great strategy against his opponent. It reminded her of her fight with Shikamaru, and how he had beaten her, not by strength, but smarts, but then gave up the match.

It wasn't until she saw a sound nin-now a lovely color of raging red by the way-grab a hold of Shikamaru, that she was snapped back from the past.

'Well, that's my queue,' she thought, grabbing her fan.


	4. Having You in my Arms

Chapter 4

"You know, that chick wasn't all that tough. I really don't why you were having such a hard time." Temari said to Shikamaru. "I mean come on, all it took was my Kyuichose No Jutsu, and she was toast."

Shikamaru looked around at the forest. Well that is if you could really call it a forest anymore. Temari's summoning technique had completely wiped out Tayuya, as well as half the trees in the forest.

He just sighed, and laid his head up against the trunk of the tree that he was laying under. Temari was folding up her fan, and obviously preparing to head back.

"We're not going anywhere." Shikamaru said lazily, looking up at the darkening sky. "It's gonna pour any minute now. We can't make it all the way back to the village in this kind of weather."

"Yes we can." Temari said demandingly. "I have been waiting to go back to the Wind Country for weeks now, and I'm not going to let a little rain stop me!"

It was at that very moment, as if someone had been listening to Shikamaru's prediction, that the heavens opened up, and let down a torrent of rain.

Now, Temari was sitting under the tree as well, her opened fan had the handle jammed into the trunk of the tree, creating a shelter from the rain. Her knees were tucked under her chin, and her hands wrapped around them. She reached up with one of her hands and felt her wet hair. Then proceeded to pull out the rubber bands that were holding it up.

Her wet hair now lay neatly at her shoulders. Shikamaru looked at her. Temari was the girl from the pond. He knew that he had seen her before.

"You know," Temari's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "You can come under my fan if you want. You're getting all wet."

Shikamaru hadn't even noticed that he wasn't at all shielded from the torrents of rain. So he just crossed his arms across his crest and said, "you told me that if I touched you, that you would slit my throat."

"I was just kidding, really," she gave him a sheepish smile. "You can come under my fan if you want…"

"Alright, but if you wouldn't mind, I'd really like to wake up tomorrow," Shikamaru scotched over so the fan sheltered him from the downpour.

By next morning when Shikamaru woke up, the rain had stopped. But it seemed that he hadn't kept his promise of not touching Temari, because her head was resting on his shoulder, and his arm had been around her waist.

He really liked the feel of having her there in his arms, and if there hadn't been the threat of death lingering in his mind, he probably would have stayed there longer. But he took his arm off of her waist, and scooted out from under her head, and let it instead rest on the tree.

He stood up and looked at her for a minute. Temari looked younger when she was sleeping. Or maybe it was just that she looked more vulnerable. But that was definitely not the vibe she put off when she was awake, she was an amazing warrior, strong confident, and very hardheaded.

Her weight shifted, and Shikamaru knew that she was waking up. He tore his gaze away from the sand girl.

"Mmmmm…." Was all she said for a minute, her eyelids fluttered, and she was awake. "What's going on…." She said in a dazed voice, rubbing her eyes.

Shikamaru squatted on the ground next to her, "come on Temari, we have to head back to the village." He put his arm on her shoulder, "we have to make sure my team's ok."

She nodded her head, and grabbed her fan from the tree, trucking it safely onto the belt on her back. "Let's go."

Within minutes, they were running across the ground, (anthere weren't y trees to hop through any more,) toward the Village Hidden in the Leaves.


	5. Cooking Tonight

Chapter 5

Well, it could have been worse, but it was still pretty bad. Kiba and Naruto had only minor injuries, and were expected to be released from the hospital in a matter of days, but Neji and Choji were each in intensive care. It turned out, that along with Temari and her brothers, Rock Lee had appeared to help, but he returned from the ordeal virtually unscathed. And other then a broken finger, Shikamaru was unharmed as well.

Shikamaru's mother was so thankful for Temari's help in "saving her little boy" that she invited her over for dinner. Where she instantly fell in love with Temari's take charge attitude.

"Come over here with me, and help me with dinner," Shikamaru's mother beckoned to Temari.

"You know, I'm really not much of a cook…" but Temari didn't get a chance to finish because she was being dragged into the kitchen.

"Nonsense, every girl knows how to cook."

Temari threw a helpless glace to Shikamaru, and he just shrugged his shoulders.

"I like her." Shikamaru's father announced to him. "I think she'll be good for you. Help you straiten up." He gave Shikamaru a hard pat on the back, causing him to strainen from his slouched position.

"No, dad, I don't like her like that-" but his father cut him off.

"You know, I said the same thing about your mother. But if you let them get away, you might lose them forever."

But they wereinterrupted by the two women returning from the kitchen. Temari had some flour dashed across her cheek, but she was smiling widely. She set a platter of lamb chops down on the table, and looked very proud of herself.

When dinner was done, Shikamaru's mother promptly said, "Honey, we need to go out, remember?" She gave her husband a brutal look.

"Oh, yea, right, let's go then," he said, getting up from his chair. He obviously had no idea what he wife was talking about, but he figured he had better go along with it.

"You kids can stay here as long as you'd like, we'll be back later." And there it was. She was trying to get Shikamaru and Temari alone together.

After they had left the house, Shikamaru heard Temari giggling to herself. It seemed she was very amused by the fact that Shikamaru's parents were a bunch of lunatics.

Shikamaru felt very awkward being alone in the house with a girl so he said, "So, um, do you want me to walk you back to the Inn?"

"No, I don't think I want to go back there yet. Let's go for a walk." She got up and headed for the door, and Shikamaru followed her out into the fresh night air.


	6. The Rematch

Chapter 6

Shikamaru and Temari walked along the edge of a grassy training ground, an uncomfortable silence seemed to have formed between them. But Temari liked the Village Hidden in the Leaves. It seemed so different from the desert; it was never blazing hot during the day, and in never got freezing cold at night either.

Temari decided she'd break the silence, "Hey Shikamaru," she looked over at the training ground, "how about a rematch?"

Shikamaru stared at her for a minute. "You want to fight me? Again?"

"Yea, let's do it!" Temari said excitedly, turning toward the grassy field.

She pulled out her fan, and positioned herself in a fighting stance. "Come on, don't you want to fight me? I've gotten stronger since the last time you know."

Shikamaru smirked lazily, as he walked out onto the field, hands in his pockets. "Alright, let's see what you got."

Temari's confident attitude didn't faze Shikamaru. At this time of day, when the sun was sunken low in the sky, it stretched the shadows, making it all too easy to wrap her in his shadow bind.

Temari wasted no time; she spun her fan around, and yelled, "Spinning Whirl!" Forcing a thick wind from her fan, but she made sure to not make the chakra to sharp, just enough to throw him.

The wind hit Shikamaru dead on, throwing him against a tree. This was just what Temari had been hoping for, she darted forward, and pinned Shikamaru to the tree. Her hands gripped his forearms, holding him in place.

"I told you I've gotten better," Temari said with a smile. Then she did something that threw Shikamaru more then any amount of winds could.

She kissed him.

Square on the mouth. She had kissed him. It was only maybe a step up from a peck, but still. It had been Shikamaru's first kiss.

His lips tingled where her's touched his. Temari had pulled away from the kiss, letting go of his arms, and letting them fall to his sides. He couldn't help feeling dazed. He just stood there, staring at her in disbelief.

"I think I'm going to go back to the Inn now," Temari said, smirking at the speechless look that had come over his face.

"Umm…yea…o-ok," Shikamaru stuttered.

"Oh, and Shikamaru?"

"Yea?"

"You still have the bag that I left at the pond at your house. I'll pick it up tomorrow." And with that, she walked off of the training ground, toward the Inn, leaving Shikamaru truely speechless.


	7. Telegram from Lord Hokage

Chapter 7

Temari hummed to herself as she washed herself in the shower. Now that their presence here was no longer a secret, Temari and her brothers were free to stay in an Inn. Much more comfortable then a tree in Temari's opinion. And also much more convenient then bathing in a pond.

Temari let the water wash away the suds covering her body before turning the faucet to the off position. She wrapped herself in a towel, and continued on to her bedroom, where she kept her clothes.

"Eeap!" Temari shirked when she saw her brother, Kankuro, sitting on her bed. "What the hell are you doing in my room!"

"I need to talk to you." Kankuro said nonchalantly, obviously not fazed by the fact that his sister was only wrapped in a towel.

"Well can I at least get dressed first!" Temari snapped angrily at him, heading toward her bureau to collect her clothing.

"No," he said stepping in front of the dresser, blocking her from it. "I want to know why we haven't left yet for the Sand Country."

"I'll tell you what, you let me get dressed, and I'll tell you all about it. If you haven't noticed, I'm sopping wet here!" Temari was getting increasingly angry with her brother's ignorance.

"You're just stalling, I want to know now." Kankuro crossed his arms across his chest, and gave Temari a critical look. "Anyways, I'm your brother, I've seen you naked. We used to take baths together, remember?"

"Yea, when we were like five! I don't know if you've noticed, but a lot's changed since we were five!" Temari gestured toward her developed body. She definitely had things that five year olds hadn't even heard of yet.

Kankuro let out a sigh; it was become obvious that he wasn't going to get anything out of his stubborn sister until he let her get dressed. "Alright, you've got five minutes."

"Make it seven and you've got a deal." Temari countered him.

He let out another irritated sigh, and stepped back from the bureau, allowing Temari to collect her clothing.

A good ten minutes later, Kankuro noted, Temari sat next to him on the bed, fully clothed, drying her hair in a towel.

"So how'd you get into my room anyways?" Temari asked him.

"You're avoiding the question," Kankuro clenched his teeth together in annoyance. "But if you really much know, I asked the woman at the counter downstairs. I told her I was your brother, and you had asked me to get your fan from your room, so I needed a key."

"And she seriously bought that! Wow, how gullible can you be?"

"Temy," Kankuro said using his nickname for his older sister, "why are we still here? You keep telling Gaara and me that you have some "unfinished business," but you won't tell us what it is. What's going on?"

Temari bit her lip. She knew that this question would come up eventually. And before she could stop herself, she spilled out the whole story, her feelings for Shikamaru, the kiss, all of it.

Now normally, Temari realized, Kankuro would have interrupted her half way through, and start making fun of her situation. But this time her let her finish without interruption. After she had finished explaining her dilemma to Kankuro, she took a deep breath, and turned to see his reaction.

Kankuro's face was emotionless, but seemed deep in thought. "Well," he started out, obviously choosing his words carefully. "Do you really love this guy?"

Temari paused. Did she really love Shikamaru? She wasn't really sure…but she figured the only way to find out was to take the plunge. "Yea, I think I do."

"Then you should stay here. Gaara and I can head back to the village; you really don't need us stickin around getting in your way-" but before her could finish, Temari cut him off.

"I don't want you guys to leave! What if I need you! I can't do this all by myself; what if I mess it up..."

Kankuro smirked to himself. Temari normally wasn't really the sensitive type, so it was a big change to hear her confused, and asking for advice.

"Alright, Gaara and I will hang around here for a little bit, and see how things work out." Kankuro stated to reassure his older sister.

Temari throw him a grateful look, but then wondered, "Hey Kankuro, why didn't Gaara come with you to interrogate me?"

Kankuro grinned again. "Can't you already see his response to me asking him to come and grill you?" He started in an imitation of Gaara," "'Its Temari's business, so we shouldn't push her. If she wants to tell us she will.' Ha! Like that ever stopped me before!"

Temari giggled at her brother's imitation of Gaara. He had said it with hand gestures and everything, trying to get the part of Gaara down. But before she could respond, there was a knock on her door, so she got up from where she sat on the bed to answer it.

"Telegram from the Lord Hokage, Tsunade." Stated a young woman standing in her doorway. Temari assumed that she was either a messenger, or an assistant to Tsunade.

"Arigato," Temari thanked the girl, and took the slip of paper from her. The young woman bowed and retreated down the corridor.

"What's it say?" Kankuro asked, rising from the bed. Obviously intrigued as to why the Hokage would want anything with Temari.

Temari slipped her finger under the seal on the paper, and unfolded it. She read it aloud to Kankuro, "The 5th Hokage, Tsunade, would like to request the presence of Temari of the Sand, for the assignment of a very important mission. Please report to her office immediately."

There was silence for a minute, until Temari voiced Kankuro's thoughts. "Why in the world would Tsunade want me to go on a leaf mission? Don't they have their own shinobi for that sort of thing!"

"Well, maybe not. A lot of the leaf's shinobi were killed or injured in the attack made by the sound. And anyways, isn't it our mission to help this village when they need it?" Kankuro had a good point, but Temari still didn't want to have to go on a leaf mission.

"Fine you Baka, I'll go on the stupid mission, are you happy now?" Temari snapped at him, clearly still angry about the situation.

"Ecstatic," was Kankuro's only sarcastic reply.

Temari grabbed her fan, and left for the office of the 5th Hokage.


	8. Scroll to Suna

Chapter 8

"Oi Tsunade-hime," Temari bowed to the Hokage before taking the seat she offered to her.

The office was small, but comfortable. Tsunade's large desk was centered in the room, and a comfy oversized chair was positioned behind it. Temari sat in a chair opposite the desk, with another empty chair next to her. Tsunade's desk was cluttered with papers, folders, and scrolls, causing a feel of chaos and disorder throughout the small space.

Temari also noticed a bookcase pushed hastily against the far wall. She could read several titles throughout the clutter, and saw that most were medical books. Many focusing on healing techniques, but several appeared to be medical dictionaries, listing illnesses and how to treat them.

Before Temari could ask Tsunade about her mission, the door behind her opened, and someone entered. Temari turned to look behind her, and saw Shikamaru coming into the room, looking fairly out of place. Tsunade ushered him into the seat next to Temari, and he took it reluctantly.

"This is far too troublesome," Shikamaru complained from where he sat next to Temari.

Tsunade took her overstuffed seat behind the desk, and folded her hands beneath her chin before beginning. "I have asked you both here today to give you an important mission." She paused, clearly for dramatic affect. "You are to deliver a scroll containing top secret information to Suna, concerning the war and the invasion made by the sound. You will be asked to travel through the canyons on the far side of Konoha, so not to draw attention."

"Why can't the scroll be delivered by eagle?" Temari asked expectantly. Most of the time, letters between the countries were carried by birds. Of course the fastest of these birds were eagles, which are easily trained, and very fast in delivery.

"Although the scroll is in code, it contains information that is vital to the future of Konoha and Suna. If the bird were to be intercepted and decoded, it would mean sure devastation to both countries." She paused again, before continuing on. "You are to take the canyons because the forest is far to well traveled. Although the canyon is more treacherous, and takes one week each way, verses the three days by forest, it will be far safer in the long run.

"Also, I am only sending the two of you. Larger groups will draw more attention, and we want to fly as low under the radar as possible."

Silence followed her speech. At least until Tsunade started up again. "Each of you have a half an hour to gather your needed supplies, and I will meet you at the town gates to give you any further instructions, along with the scroll."

Temari and Shikamaru left the office in silence. At least it was silent until they reached the street. "How troublesome," Shikamaru murmured. Temari couldn't help but giggle at this. She had found after spending some time with Shikamaru that that phrase was far to overused.

"What are you laughing about?" Shikamaru looked kind of confused at her sudden fit of giggles.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about how great it's going to be to spend a whole two weeks with you."

Temari could have sworn that Shikamaru blushed. She didn't even know he knew how to blush. But he veered off the road when they came to his house, and mumbled something about seeing Temari in a little while.

'A whole two weeks with Shikamaru,' Temari thought excitedly as she continued down the path to the Inn. 'I guess if I didn't know how I felt about Shikamaru before then I'll find out in the next two weeks.'

A half an hour later, Temari and Shikamaru stood in front of the town gate, awaiting the arrival of Tsunade with the scroll.

"Can't she hurry up?" Temari said impatiently, glancing down at her watch. "We need to leave at a decent enough hour so we can at least get a few miles down before nightfall."

Shikamaru just took it all in stride. He didn't seem very fazed by the fact that they needed to get out of Konoha and on their way before it started to get dark. He actually seemed to be fairly laid back about it. In fact, he was laid back. Against the gate that is. Watching the clouds roll by. It was one of his favorite pass times actually.

Eventually Tsunade came, and gave them the scroll. "Now, one more thing." Several moans came from her listeners at the sound of more lecturing. But she continued on anyways. "Don't travel at night. The cliffs in the canyon are very steep, and even hard to navigate in broad daylight. So I would really not recommend trying to get more ground covered by pullin a few all-nighters."

Temari and Shikamaru each gave her a nod, before heading off into the treacherous gorge.

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Well, there yea go, chapter 8. Now I've noticed that I've started added some Japanese words, and affixes at the ends of names. (Wow, where'd that come from!) So I thought I'd better clear up a few things by telling you what the one's I've used so far mean.

Oi: Hey, Hello, ect.

Hime: Affix for Princess

Arigato: Thank you

Baka: Fool, Idiot, ect.

Suna: Sand

Some more words that you might see in future chapters:

Kun: Affix for male friend

Chan: Affix for female friend or young child

Gomen: Sorry

Ile: No

Hai: Yes

Well that just about sums it up! Thank you to all my loyal reviewers! I love you guys so much, thanks for all the support! Also, I was thinking about the name, and I think it's kind of unoriginal…I think I need something snappier, something that just jumps right off the page! Any ideas? Please post in your reviews if you can think up a better name! I'm kind of on a role lately, so expect another chapter soon!


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